Kukla's Korner Hockey

Entries with the tag: carter ashton

The use of Clenbuterol cost Alberto Contador a Tour de France title and Guillermo Mota the chance to win a second World Series with the San Francisco Giants.

Now it might keep Carter Ashton from continuing his NHL career.

Officially, the Toronto Maple Leafs winger was hit with a 20-game suspension for a positive test of the banned substance, but the ultimate penalty will likely end up being quite a bit steeper than that.

Fairly or not, Ashton is now going to be labelled as a user of performance-enhancing drugs. That the 23-year-old claims he accidentally ingested the fat-burning stimulant through a friend’s asthma inhaler won’t change much in the court of public opinion.

NEW YORK (Nov. 6, 2014) – Toronto Maple Leafs forward Carter Ashton has been suspended for 20 games, without pay, for violating the terms of the NHL/NHLPA Performance Enhancing Substances Program.

Under the terms of the Collective Bargaining Agreement, the suspension is accompanied by mandatory referral to the NHL/NHLPA Program for Substance Abuse and Behavioral Health for evaluation and possible treatment.

Based on his average annual salary, Ashton will forfeit $169,185.

The National Hockey League will have no further comment on this matter.

Toronto Maple Leafs right wing Carter Ashton will have a hearing with the NHL Department of Player Safety on Friday for a hit on Calgary Flames defenseman Derek Smith on Tuesday night at Scotiabank Saddledome.

At 16:56 of the second period, Ashton received a two-minute boarding penalty on the play as well as a five-minute fighting major for an altercation that ensued with Flames defenseman Shane O'Brien. Smith remained in the game after the hit.

The following grounds are being considered for supplemental discipline: boarding. However, the Department of Player Safety retains the right to make adjustments to the infraction upon review.

Before a single tweak to the roster, the Tampa Bay Lightning were already poised for improvement in 2010-11. With the tumultuous era of previous ownership already behind them when the sale of the team to Jeff Vinik was completed late last season, gone in an instant were any and all off-ice concerns and the circus went back to being an annual visitor to the St. Pete Times Forum rather than a permanent resident. With the appointment of Steve Yzerman as general manager, credibility returned to the franchise and new head coach Guy Boucher was widely regarded as the hottest commodity on the off-season coaching market.

Without a solitary player move, hockey life in Tampa was good again.

But far be it from Yzerman to rest on the comfort that fans surely feel by him simply not being one of those other guys. The addition of former Flyers forward Simon Gagne headlines a list of shrewd off-season maneuvers for the rookie GM and the revamped roster could very well translate to the sort of on-ice success that will make Lightning followers quickly forgot about three non-playoff seasons gone by.

In the latest episode of The Bolts Beat (and the show’s debut here at Kukla’s Korner), JJ and co-host Mike Corcoran visit with Tampa Bay Lightning forward Steve Downie to discuss last season’s individual success, off-season training with Gary Roberts, rivalries and much more. Puck Daddy editor Greg Wyshynski drops in as well and touches on Ilya Kovalchuk, the recent Mt. Blogmore series, the newly rekindled bloggers/main stream media access debate and gives his opinion on how the Lightning might fare in 2010-11. Finally, Tampabaylightning.com contributor Mark Pukalo steps into the studio to add his two cents while helping to answer questions from The Bolts Beat mailbag.

In a summer that has been, at the very least, stabilizing (if not downright successful) for the Tampa Bay Lightning, the vast majority of those taking notice of the work done throughout the organization have come away impressed – including the club’s latest addition, Jon Cooper, announced yesterday as head coach of the AHL’s Norfolk Admirals.

“The whole thing that drew me to (the club),” Cooper said, “Was the (positive) attitude and the people they’ve brought in.”

Now, included in that very group, Cooper is well aware of some fortunate timing for the two sides to come together.

“I wanted to go the AHL at some point,” explained Cooper, who leaves his post as head coach and general manager of the United States Hockey League’s Green Bay Gamblers. “I just probably didn’t think it was going to be right this second.”

But now that making that jump is indeed a reality for Cooper, his excitement and enthusiasm cannot be tempered and he gives his new bosses credit for finding him in their search.